


Sokka and the Beast

by LesbianLady



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Beauty and the Beast Elements, M/M, Moon Spirit Yue (Avatar), Ozai's Bad Parenting, Supernatural Elements, You'll know who is who
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 14:22:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29934741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LesbianLady/pseuds/LesbianLady
Summary: There was many things that Zuko needs to learn in the world but, trying to reverse a curse by finding true love is something that he can wait on.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Kudos: 49





	Sokka and the Beast

Zuko had not known much by the time he was eleven, but he had known enough to feel more than just sadness when his mother had left. Though, he had to admit that sadness was a major emotion that he felt at the time. The untimely death of Lu Ten had only fueled the loss and sadness that he felt at the time.

When Zuko had confided to his sister about how he was feeling, she had told father. Father had then, called him soft, weak, and immature. Azula called him Father’s disappointment.

Zuko had felt a hatred to his sister that was so strong that he refused to eat for most of that week. He feared that he would get so angry that he would vomit it back up.

Before the time that Zuko turned thirteen, Azula had mastered more than he ever would with her firebending. He became more jealous and hateful each time that she had shown off her skills. He kept remarks to himself and often was shunned away from anything his father and Azula did.

When Zuko had turned thirteen, something he figured would never happen to him, happened.

Zuko had woken from a dream, and when he sat up he saw the soft light. “Go away,” he barked, thinking it was his sister. “I don’t want you here.”

There was a gentle laugh and the light only grew brighter. “That I understand, but I must speak with you,” a soft-spoken voice had said.

Zuko had climbed out of bed and padded over to where he saw the light. By the voice he knew that it wasn't Azula. He approached cautiously. A strange voice talking to him in the middle of the night? “What do you need to talk about with me? Can’t you see that it is late?” Zuko grabbed his knife before he stepped away from the bed. He took a deep breath, preparing himself, and he stepped around the window to look out to his balcony. 

A woman of white stood before him on the rails. A soft smile graced her lips and she beckoned the boy closer to her. “Come to me. There are many things that I must talk to you about.”

Zuko walked closer to the woman and she reached out to touch his head, “You… You are not like them. Your father and sister. Zuko, you are much different from them.” She paused and pulled her hand away from his head. A single white strand fell down in front of his face and Zuko gasped. He grabbed the strand to inspect it closer and the woman of white started to speak again.

“I have cursed you Zuko. Though in the end, it will not feel like a curse," she informed him. Her hands came to rest in front of her regally.

“What have you done?” It was all Zuko could do to force the words out in a whisper.

“The curse, Zuko, is that you must find true love in someone. A love so true that when the words are spoken back to you,  _ you  _ will feel the love in it as well. There must be both, a platonic love and romantic love.” The goddess paused and leaned down close to Zuko. “You must find this love in five years, Zuko. To ensure that you are to find love in this time frame, death will more or less elude you. This is so that you do not try to end this early… And if you do not find the love, you will die slowly due to heartbreak.”

Zuko was gulping down greedy breaths of air as he shook. She must be lying, she must be lying, she must be-

“Heartbreak is an agonizing death. Please do not let me come and ensure that _that_ is to be your death.” The goddess stood upright again and lifted off of the balcony in front of Zuko’s eyes.

“How will I know that I have found true love?” Zuko’s voice finally came back to him and he went to follow the woman up.

She smiled as kind as his mother and that was when Zuko had started crying. “I’ll let you know.” The goddess had drifted far enough away that he knew that he wouldn’t be able to hear her. Still, her voice lingered in his ears, ringing with promise.

Zuko remained rooted in place, watching until the goddess left. Tears continued to streak down his face until he sucked in a breath and wiped his eyes.

Five years. Five years to end this curse and maybe get his life back the way it was.

The first thing next morning that Zuko did was tell his father of what happened the night before.

“I swear, father, I saw a goddess last night! I have proof! I mean, look at this!” Zuko was adamant and only persisted by showing Ozai the strand of pale white hair. “It happened last night and the only way to break the curse is to find my soulmate!”

Ozai had only listened for a moment before he dismissed him and told Zuko that he was lying. “You and I both know that no goddess exists. Now leave me, I have important things to do.”

“Father, you have to believe-” The next thing Zuko knew was that he lay writhing on the floor screaming with a searing pain on his face.

_ Oh Gods, it burns! _

“I told you,  _ Son, _ I have more important things to do than to talk about gods and goddesses.” Ozai stepped over his still spasming son. “Do not interrupt me again unless you are prepared for another lesson.”

It took almost two weeks for Zuko to open his left eye again. Even then, there wasn't much to see out of it. In that two week time frame, his uncle, Iroh, had returned to nurse his nephew back to health (out of pity or whatever, Zuko didn’t care) and to mourn the loss of his own son.

By the time Zuko was able to walk without getting dizzy, both Iroh and him left the kingdom. His father, now crowned king, banished the both of them, sending Zuko out to find his so-called soulmate. Ozai gave Zuko a ship and a skeleton crew to search.

Heartbroken, Zuko began his search. He tried the rest of his father’s kingdom, then in the colonies. When both of those proved fruitless, Zuko left in search of the Earth Kingdom. By the time he was done with both kingdoms, the first year and portion of his hair had turned white. The only reason he truly noticed it was when a shopkeeper offered to sell him hair dye.

Zuko burned the man’s stand down. His uncle asked him later why he did it. Zuko did not have an answer. Iroh had blamed it on resentment to the scar his father had caused.

Zuko only seemed to grow angrier and began to push people away. First his crew, then when half of the second year had passed, his uncle. He searched and spared no compromises. After all, they wouldn’t deserve any if they truly loved Zuko in this form. If there was anything that he didn’t like about the current person he was talking to, he dismissed them and left them behind. It wasn’t worth his time.

Three years after Zuko was cursed, a little more than half his hair had turned white. Zuko had already searched the world twice and both times came up empty-handed. Zuko traveled the world in hopes that someone would love him just the way he was without trying to change him.

Those three years procured nothing for him. Nobody for him. It was then that he let his uncle talk him into perhaps returning to his home in one of the smaller, unmarked Earth city. Zuko and his crew returned to the small palace. How his uncle managed to snag a place there was beyond Zuko, but he wasn’t about to question it.

“It will be okay, Prince Zuko. Maybe some rest would do you some good."

The rest did. He met someone named Jet and, before Zuko knew it, was spending quite a bit of time with him. 

“We gotta hit this place here. Then we can use the money for ourselves," Jet had told him.

Zuko didn’t really care about the money. Spending time with someone who didn’t look at his scar first was a nice feeling.

“Sure.” Zuko had said. He left that night with Jet to finish out the plan. When they got there, he realized that Jet was trying to steal from an honest noble who was currently trying to take over leadership of the town.

“Jet,” Zuko called him, grabbing his arm. “I don’t think that this is a good idea.”

Jet only yanked his arm free from Zuko’s grasp and growled at him, “If you think that it is such a bad idea then leave. I don’t want you holding me back.”

It was at that moment that Zuko decided that it would be best for him to leave. There was nothing good coming from this relationship.

When he returned home, Iroh was waiting for him and Zuko had fallen into his arms. He didn’t cry this time, his emotions at a bland state of existence. His uncle asked if he was okay, was he hurt and Zuko told him no. Not physically. That night, Uncle had held Zuko close to him and Zuko allowed it.

By the next morning, Zuko finally resigned himself to live out the next two years of his life. He would keep himself unattached to the town’s people so that when he passed, the loss would not be so hard on them.

It stayed that way for half a year after that. That is, until he had a visitor come by.

“Oh, Zuzu,” she started, as always, her hands on her hips and the ever present in his presence, sly smirk.

He wasn’t prepared for when she came by. He was in the middle of training with his dual Dao swords.

“What do you want,” Zuko bit back. He honestly wasn’t in the mood and, if truth be told, he wanted her to leave now.

“What? So cruel of you, Zuko. You don’t even want to talk to your darling sister?” She laughed lightly after her own words.

“Azula.” Zuko turned to her and stared her down. There was a reason why she was here. There was always a reason for Azula to want to talk to him.

“Are you ready to give up the façade? Admit that you are wrong?” Her hands came up to her chin. “Are you ready to say that there is no such thing as a soulmate and you would still continue to live after- what is it now, less than the next two years?”

“No,” he rasped. “I know what I said that night is true. Otherwise, why would my hair turn white?”

“Zuko, your hair is as dark as the day you were born. What are you talking about?” Azula questioned him.

He turned to her in disbelief and suddenly it clicked, no one could see this curse. It was his curse to live.

“I need you to leave,” he started. “I need you to leave because you know that what you said isn't true.” Zuko denied what she said about his curse.

“Fine,” Azula scoffed. “Stay here. It’s not like Father wants you back or anything.” She turned on her heel, exiting through the front palace doors when she paused. “You’ll never find mom this way," she finished and stormed out.

Zuko did everything that he could to remain calm. He did his breathing exercise and worked out the emotions as he trained. Or he tried to anyway. He eventually gave up to go find his uncle.

“Nephew, is everything alright?” Iroh asked, focused on his Pai Sho table.

“Azula came by to talk to me today, ” Zuko sighed, bringing a frustrated hand to his face to rub his eyes. 

That piqued Uncle’s interest and he turned away from the table. “What did she say?” he asked, his face morphing with apprehension. 

“She told me that Father wants me to admit that I am wrong. Wrong about all the stuff that has happened to me. When I told her no, she told me that it wasn’t important anyways. Father isn’t ready for me to come back.” Zuko paused, chewing on his bottom lip in an anxious habit. “Then, she told me that I would never be able to find my mother this way.”

Iroh saddened and he reached his arms out. “Zuko, I am here for you,” he started and he grabbed Zuko’s arms. “I also know that whatever happened to you that night truly happened and you wouldn’t be so affected had it not.”

Zuko gave it some thought, and then asked, “Is my hair turning white, Uncle?” He had to know, he had to know,  _ he had to know. _

Iroh looked taken aback. What kind of question was that? “Of course it is! I can see it, at least half of your head has turned!”

Zuko’s face grew serious and he nodded slowly. His thoughts drifted back to that night.

_ A love so true that when the words are spoken back to you, you will feel the love. _

Warmth filled his chest as he realized that he had found the love that he needed for the curse. Something wasn’t still adding up though.

_ It must be both, a platonic love and romantic love. _

And, the goddess had said 'and', not 'or'. For the first time in a long while, there was a spark of hope coming from Zuko. He was halfway through his curse.

Zuko had sat across from his uncle and a small grin tugged at his lips. "Would you like to play Pai Sho, Uncle?”

He refused to admit it, but he was pretty sure his Uncle had beamed at him.

Three and a half years had passed since the start of the curse, and for once during that time he actually felt like he was getting somewhere.

**Author's Note:**

> It has been a while since I last posted. So, enjoy.


End file.
